Thursday, August 23, 2012

How Yaounde Caused Simon Nkwenti’s Death

Simon Nkwenti, the agrarian Trade
Unionist and civil society leader cum CATTU Scribe is no more. Simon Nkwenti
died on Tuesday August 21, 2012 at the Bamenda General Hospital.
The news of his death flustered the population of Bamenda city and reverberated
across the country like hurricane catherina. No death of a
Cameroonian has produced such a shocking atmosphere within the last 20 years like his death. Simon
Nkwenti died soon after celebrating his 49th birthday. Judging from
his health record, it is aired Nkwenti was diabetic. Diabetes and hypertension
are twin brothers, but every modern doctor would attest that to maintain a
stable condition it is necessary that the patient should never be exposed to
any stressful situation.

But Nkwenti loved Cameroon to
such an extent that he found it absolutely impossible to relax or sleep if
anything was going wrong. He founded the most vibrant teacher’s trade union CATTU
to fight for the welfare of teachers which always put him at unfriendly relations with the people in Yaounde (Regime). In his capacity as the Secretary General
of the Cameroon Teachers Trade Union-CATTU, he fought hard to improve on the
status of the teachers. Being a true-born leader, Simon Nkwenti also got
himself into civil society activism. His ideas and lobbying skills were
accepted and approved by Cameroonians as everyone approved his approach of
naming and shaming corrupt practices.

Simon Nkwenti was somebody who
could never be satisfied with mediocrity when excellence could be attained. He
wanted and spent his life working for the best for Cameroon in terms of education. But
since charity as they say should begin at home, he fought for the creation of a
Higher Technical Teacher
Training College
and the second cycle of ENS, both in Bambili. He was a frontliner in the fight
for the creation of the University of Bamenda-UBa. When the Biya regime dragged
it feet in appointing the administration of UBa, Nkwenti threatened to go to
the streets. He was even arrested and detained at the judicial police for over
6 hours before Fon Chafah threatened to enter the cell if Nkwenti was not
released.

Besides, when Nkwenti took the
decision to combat crime in Bamenda, the Yaounde
regime was rattled. At the Presidency of the Republic, Nkwenti’s name became anathema.
The question was how can a civilian champion a fight against crime? At a
certain point, he was attacked. It is alleged he was even shot. But being a
true-born leader, he survived. Nothing has ever threatened the Biya regime than
when Nkwenti created vigilant groups in each quarter to combat crimes in
Bamenda. It was therefore thanks to Nkwenti that special elite forces like BIR
and Esir were to combat crimes were trained and dispatched to big towns in the
country. Yet, government had never taken it lightly.

Why the Biya Regime is blamed for Nkwenti’s Death?

No regime anywhere on earth likes
to be pushed around, especially a dictatorial regime. The Biya regime certainly
felt uncomfortable being constantly reminded to fulfill the duty it is in place
for.

When Nkwenti attended a meeting
in Bertoua, he sensitized both the English and French teachers on a march for
the application of article 66, this was when the regime was determined he was
not to succeed. That march was to ensure that President Biya declares his
assets and by so doing set the pace for others to follow.

Public opinion in Bamenda however holds that Nkwenti
had to die for the doctorial and corruption prone regime to survive. But as one
Nkwenti sympathizer said in spontaneous reaction to Nkwenti’s death today at
Press and Associates in Bamenda, when you kill a hero, you simply make room for
another hero to emerge. The welfare of the people has never been the
preoccupation of those in power in Cameroon. Personal interest is the
motivation for nearly all actions. Simon Nkwenti was on treatment when a
meeting was convened to discuss the sensitive issue of the price hikes at the
Prime Minister’s Office. The conveners knew Nkwenti was on a sick bed but they
insisted he should attend the meeting. Nkwenti left the hospital to attend the
meeting. That decision was part of his life to see that Cameroon is
better for everyone. It should be recalled that former Governor of the North
West Region had suspended Nkwenti’s salary. That was enough stress for him and
it was intended to starve his family. Government also used the Teachers
Association of Cameroon-TAC (or what it means) to write petitions against CATTU
and Nkwenti which were sent to ministries and even some partners of CATTU like
Frederich Elbert Foundation. Like the Pharisees they stood at the gate of the
paradise of giving Cameroonians better standards of living

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

3 comments:

Wonders they say, shall never end. I can't believe that you call yourself a journalist. You can't even do basic research and spell the name of a hurricane which destroyed and killed so much in the US; it's Hurricane Katrina not 'hurricane catherina'

Besides, you blame the natural death of someone on the government? I can't even begin to describe how mediocre your theory sounds, its actually the most ridiculous conspiracy theory I have ever heard. Anyway, I don't blame you because I know that Bamenda people will always blame the death of someone on something or someone else. Someone dies of diabetes and hypertension and you blame the government: why not blame the government for causing the death of HIV patients too.

You credit late Simon Nkwenti(may his soul rest in peace) with soo many funny achievements and you do so in a very unprofessional manner, am sure he is rolling in the mortuary right now because of this.

Late Simon Nkwenti died doing what he loved, he did it till the very end.

Being anonymous already explains a whole lot why you have to hide behind your old PC and write all these witty-less comments .Do you have any idea of how stress can provoke all these ailments this patriot went through and the toll there after?You talk of Bamenda man as though you are one of those alienated stooges brainwashed by the substandard regime.